29 January 2018
Contributions and comments are encouraged: see the Contributions Page
Forthcoming events
February
2018
Friday 2 February Clwyd
Railway Circle John Sloane 'From Vulcan Foundry to the
Khyber' British built steam at work in Pakistan, It includes
pictures taken on the spectacular line up the Khyber Pass to
the Afghan border.
Tuesday 6 February North
Wales Railway Circle Barry Wynn, assisted by Steve
Morris, presents more of his work. A superb collection
of photographs depicting British Railway practice going back
to steam days.
Wednesday 7 February RCTS
Merseyside Chester & North Wales
LIVERPOOL Doug Birmingham –
“Rail Reflections in Merseyside”
Thursday 8 February Llandudno
and Conwy Valley Railway Society
Ellis Morey: The Penrhyn Railway
Friday 9 February Shropshire
Railway Society Preserved Steam on Video (PSOV), Karl
Jauncey & Dave Richards
Friday 9 February Altrincham
Electric Railway Preservation Society Over the Water -
Isle of Man and Ireland in the 60s: a colour slide
presentation by Bill Chapman.
Monday 19 February RCTS
Merseyside Chester & North Wales
CHESTER Ian Pilkington –
“Steam and Diesel in the Northern Fells”
Friday 23 February Shropshire
Railway Society Andrew Charman: Welshpool and Llanfair
Light Railway
March 2018
Friday 2 March Clwyd
Railway Circle Annual General Meeting followed by
“Film Shows - Railways Past and Present”.
Tuesday 6 March North
Wales Railway Circle North to South. North Wales
Railway Circle member Ken Owen returns with a pictorial
journey north to south over the British Rail network.
Thursday 8 March Llandudno
and Conwy Valley Railway Society John
Cashen RCTS: North West & North Wales
Reminiscences in the 1960s
Friday 9 March Shropshire
Railway Society George Jones: Onward to Corwen.....an
illustrated review of the Llangollen Railway's extension to
Corwen
Monday 19 March RCTS
Merseyside Chester & North Wales
CHESTER Peter Berry – “The Robert
Whitfield Collection, UK Steam 1948 - 1958” Because of
renovations the Society will not be able to hold the meeting
at The Town Crier, Station Road, Chester and the meeting
will now take place nearby at The Queen Hotel, Station
Road, Chester (opposite the station).
Friday 9 March Altrincham
Electric Railway Preservation Society Trains of
Thought. Includes India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the US and
the UK. a digital presentation by Bob Avery
Friday 23 March Shropshire
Railway Society Chris Banks, Too be announced
April 2018
Tuesday 3 April North
Wales Railway Circle Tony Griffith returns with two
presentations. The Dyserth Branch and an historic
shipping disaster off the North Wales Coast.
Wednesday 4 April RCTS
Merseyside Chester & North Wales
LIVERPOOL Alan Moore – “The
Railways of St. Helens”
Friday 6 April Clwyd
Railway Circle John Cashen 'North West & North
Wales Reminiscences In The 1960s' The presentation will
cover from Liverpool to Liverpool within an area bounded by
Southport, Burscough, Standish, Warrington, Crewe,
Whitchurch, Chester, Holyhead, Barmouth, Aberystwyth,
Shrewsbury, Wrexham, the Wirral, Chester, Northwich and
Speke
Thursday 12 April Llandudno
and Conwy Valley Railway Society Members
Evening
Friday 13 April Shropshire
Railway Society Mervyn Pritchard, Swiss Alps and
Railways
Friday 13 April Altrincham
Electric Railway Preservation Society Navigation Road
and All That.The show includes scenes at Navigation Road,
Ashley, Cinderland Crossing, Dunham Massey and other
locations in the Altrincham area. Ted Buckley shows pictures
(mainly of steam) taken by his late father Bill in the
1960s.
13-15 April Llangollen
Railway End of Steam gala 3802 expected back in
traffic otherwise further attractions yet to be announced.
Saturday 14 April Steam on the Coast. Saphos Trains.
Crewe - Holyhead and return. 46100, 34046 or 70000. Special
introductory fares from £45.
Monday 16 April RCTS
Merseyside Chester & North Wales
CHESTER Brian Armand – “Railway
Roundabout”
Thursday 26 April Brian Yates: Light
Rail Transit Association (Manchester) The
Tramways of Berlin, Potsdam, Lyon and Grenoble.
Friday 27 April Shropshire
Railway Society AGM, followed by Member's talk
Saturday 28 April Steam on the Coast UK
Railtours Ynys Mon Express. Leicester -
Holyhead 60163 Tornado Derby -
Holyhead - Derby.
May 2018
Tuesday 8 May North
Wales Railway Circle AGM and Annual Photographic
Competition
Thursday 10 May Llandudno
and Conwy Valley Railway Society W. Gordon
Davies: A taste of Japan
June 2018
Saturday 2 June Steam on the Coast. Saphos Trains.
Crewe - Holyhead and return. 46100, 34046 or 70000.
2-3 June Llangollen
Railway Heritage railcar gala
30 June Llangollen
Railway Classic transport
July 2018
Sunday 22 July Steam on the Coast Railway Touring
Company North Wales Coast Express
Liverpool - Chester - Llandudno Junction - Holyhead and
return. 45690
Tuesday 24 July Steam on the Coast Railway Touring
Company Welsh Mountaineer Preston - Blaenau
Ffestiniog. 45699 or 48151: Preston - Chester - Llandudno
Junction - Blaenau and return
August 2018
Saturday 4 August. Steam on the Coast. Saphos Trains.
Bangor (07.00/22.15) Llandudno Jct (07.25/21.55) Colwyn Bay
(07.35/21.45) Rhyl (07.50/21.30) Prestatyn (08.00/21.20)
Flint (08.10/21.10) Chester (08.30/20.50) Crewe
(09.30/20.00) Stafford to Stratford-on Avon. 46100, 34046 or
70000.
September 2018
Saturday 8 September Steam at Chester Railway Touring Company
Norwich - Chester. 60009: Norwich -Peterborough - Nuneaton
- Chester - Peterborough
29 September Llangollen
Railway Diesel gala
October 2018
12-14 October Llangollen
Railway Autumn Steam gala
Friday 19 October Steam on the Coast Golden
Eagle Luxury Tour (Day 5 of 12) (Provisional)
Chester - Blaenau Ffestiniog 46100: Llandudno Junction -
Blaenau Ffestiniog, Holyhead - Crewe
|
Winter sunshine at Rhyl picks out 43 013 heading the
Track Recording Train on 25 January. Picture by Tim
Rogers.
Extra items added on 30 January
Tim Rogers' view (1)
On 24 January 221 114 and 221 103 Christopher
Columbus on 1A48 13:58 Holyhead to London Euston pass
Holywell Junction.
Colas Rail Matisa B41 UE Tamper DR75407 rests in the
Holywell Junction siding as 175 110 passes with 1H90 14:40
Llandudno to Manchester Piccadilly. Signalbox, semaphore
signals and sidings here will be abolished on 26 March.
68 002 Intrepid and 68 016 Fearless
with FNA wagon 11 70 9229 015-6 with 6K41 14:58 Valley to
Crewe flask pass Holywell Junction 48 minutes early.
Cambrian Heritage Railways news
Good news from the heritage sector is that the Cambrian Heritage
Railways have been awarded a £120,000 grant by
Oswestry Town Council. The fund will help extend the line
from Oswestry to Weston Wharf, which its thought will
attract some 20,000 visitors and bring at least £1.28
million to the town’s economy every year.
The money comes from a four-million pound 'windfall' from
the developers of the Smithfield Cattle Market project,
which has created a space intended for a retail and cinema
complex on part of the site. So far, however, this has not
been built.
The railway already provides trips from the station in
Oswald Road to the Gasworks bridge, however the extension
will complete the 1.75 mile route as well as the creation of
a visitor centre at Weston with a connection to the adjacent
Stonehouse Brewery. The project has only been made possible
after Shropshire Council invested in work to make the
Gasworks Bridge passable by lowering the track.
Further expansion in the future will be to link the line at
Weston with the small section already running trains at
Llynclys, while a separate project aims to create a
community transport link in the opposite direction between
Oswestry Railway Station and the main line at Gobowen
Railway Station, including a halt at the Orthopaedic
Hospital.
Manchester evening
Greg Mape visited Manchester Victoria on the evening
of Saturday 27 January, hoping to see a steam loco bring in
the return 'Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express.' What turned
up - 26 minutes late - was a pair of class 47 diesels, 47
245 and 47 804. 45699 Galatea had been
removed at Hellifield to return to Carnforth. Was this a
planned move? It seems common these days for diesels to take
over the return workings of steam specials.
The Metrolink part of the station looks impressive in the
evening (Greg Mape). Here are some Metrolink route
changes which apply from 28 January:
Airport line services will run to Victoria, using the centre
platform there.
Sunday services are extended by approximately an hour into
the evening.
Both platforms at Altrincham will be used routinely, with
the through service to Bury starting from Platform 2 and the
Piccadilly service from Platform 1.
The Etihad Campus service will run from MediaCityUK instead
of Altrincham.
Tim Rogers' view (2)
Rhyl on 25 January. 158 823 is working 1D13 11:10
Birmingham International to Holyhead. A new signal is
covered with white X's waiting for the big changeover in
March.
67 015 propels 1H89 13:07 Holyhead to Manchester
Piccadilly, formed of Mk3b, DVT 82308, Mk3, TSO 12185, Mk3,
TSO 12182, Mk3, TSO 12184, Mk3, TSO 12183.
Cross-Country HST reaches Manchester - report by Jack
Bowley
On Wednesday 24 January a Cross-Country HST, never normally
seen in the Manchester area. The story behind it is that
there was a total loss of signalling in and around Bristol,
so 1M29 0702 Paignton to Manchester Piccadilly was heavily
delayed. As a result, Control turned one of their HST sets
at Cheltenham Spa and put it in the path of 1M29, albeit as
a new headcode of 1Z29. This certainly got the interest of
the 'cranks' and word got around quickly that a HST was on
its way to Piccadilly.
I boarded it at Stockport (above) with 43 301 leading for
Manchester. Due to the nature of the CrossCountry
diagramming, the inbound from the West Country normally
returns to Bournemouth, but this wasn't desired by Control
and so was stepped back a diagram to work 1V57 to Bristol
Temple Meads. The HST worked as far as Birmingham where a
220 continued the service southbound.
43 301 'on the blocks' at Piccadilly with 390 148
alongside.
43 321 ready for departure at Piccadilly.
More Cambrian 1982 snow - recollections by Chris Scott
Continuing the story of the 1982 snow, I thought
readers might be interested in these photos I took in 1982.
I was the village bobby at Llwyngwril at the time, and was
on duty when the snow started falling. The road
between Llwyngwril and Tywyn was blocked as were other roads
into Tywyn, and we had to open it as supplies were needed
for Tywyn hospital.
The photo of the JCB (above) is just above the railway line
at Prysgau. You can judge the depth of the snow which is
remarkable when you think how near the sea we are at this
point. Just below us I think the Class 25 had already
derailed in the snow.
I went back later to photograph the recovery operation.
Later the same day I had to go to Fairbourne and to get
there the only way to go was along the railway line, through
the avalanche shelter, on foot.
Looking back: the end of
Wrexham and Shropshire - with Peter Neve
The last Wrexham & Shropshire service train departed
London Marylebone Station for Wrexham General at 18:30 on
Friday 28 January 2011. On Saturday 29 January the rolling
stock was removed from Wrexham by 67 013 Dyfrbont
Pontcysyllte leading and 67 012 A
Shropshire Lad at the rear. I took these photographs
at the time of departure (at about midday). I believe this
was the last time the rolling stock appeared at Wrexham
General. Above:The train is assembled on platform 3 at
Wrexham General waiting for the 'off'.
67 012 at the rear of the train.
67 013 hauls the last of the Wrexham and Shropshire Railway
rolling stock out of Wrexham General station.
Michael Williams, author of the book On The Slow Train:
Twelve Great British Railway Journeys, wrote at the
time: 'The elegant offering of the W&S was a world away
from the overcrowding, rude staff, dirty toilets, cramped
seats, microwaved burgers, plastic cups and lack of
information that too often defines the modern railway ...
The announcement of its demise came on the same day that
W&S topped the National Passenger Survey with a 96 per
cent approval rating.'
Miscellany
The longest passenger train in the UK: 92 018 at
Crewe on 26 January on the 16-coach Caledonian Sleeper from
London with portions for Fort William, Aberdeen and
Inverness. Picture by Eurwyn McMahon.
On 29 January at Crewe, 390 011 on a test run shows off
Virgin's new livery of white, which matches that of the new
trains on the East Coast and appears to be a Department for
Transport requirement to simplify possible transfer to
another operator at the end of the franchise. The nameplates
are being replaced by vinyl stickers - will be see the
plates in a charity auction soon? Picture by Martin
Evans.
Engineering work in progress at Hale station, Mid-Cheshire
line, Sunday 28 January (Greg Mape).
46521 at Quorn, Great Central Railway, 28 January (Peter
Dickinson).
North Wales
Coast home page | Archive
| Previous
Notice Board
|